I am focusing on three projects to get them to a playable state. I have owned the figures for the Wars of the First Triumvirate since the release of Warhammer Ancient Battles in 1998, the majority of figures for the Crusades since 2000 and I have a massive collection of Colonial American Figures that just need to be properly organized.

Other projects will still get worked on, probably on somewhat of a regular basis, they just won't be a focus of what I am working on.

Tuesday, January 30, 2018

Author's Note: This is the first in a series of posts that I plan on making taking an in-depth look at the Economic, Political, Religious, and Social factors that lead up to the start of the French and Indian War in North America.

Historic Background

Conflict in the
Ohio Valley

In the Ohio valley, the Ohio Hopewellian Native American
society and culture was phased out over a period of several centuries as the
agrarian culture of the succeeding Fort Ancient[1]
Native American society took hold around 1,000 CE. Growing maize and living in semi-permanent
villages the Fort Ancient Native American society flourished until the mid to
late 17th Century.

Further to the east the Monongahela Native American[2]
society took root in the late 11th century in what is modern Western
Pennsylvania. An agrarian society based
around Maize the Monongahela culture they built smaller, less organized, temporary
villages and built less permanent structures than their western neighbors. Not as numerous as the Fort Ancient Native
Americans the Monongahela Society thrived until the late 17th and
early 18th centuries.

Scholars believe both the Fort Ancient and the
Monongahela societies were decimated by waves of infectious diseases brought by
European Settlers and Traders. The
first noted decline for the Fort Ancient society begins in roughly 1625 CE,
most likely through their contact and trade with the Mississippian Hopewell
Native Americans who were trading with both French and Spanish traders alike. The more isolated Monongahela culture did
not start seeing declines until the turn of the 18th century after
the arrival of European Traders from Canada and New England.

The agrarian methods of both tribes of clearing fields
and moving villages and clearing more fields created large swaths of unused pristine
farmland in the Ohio Valley. This was
noted by the European traders and explores began mapping the Ohio Valley in the
1730’s and 1740’s.

The Changing
Native America Tribes

With pressure from European Settlers along the Saint
Lawrence Seaway and in New England a few Eastern Woodland Tribes began
migrating west into the Western Pennsylvania and the Ohio Valley. The Wyandots, Erie, Seneca and Delaware
tribes are examples of the tribes or offshoot of tribes that migrated into the
region. The decimated tribes in the
region began to coalesce into new tribes.
The Miami and Shawnee tribes are two such tribes that formed during this
period.

In comparison to other localized regions in North America
even with the formation of new tribes and the migrations into the Ohio Valley the
region was vastly under populated.
Pristine farmlands, large swaths of untamed wilderness could easily have
supported four or five times the population of the Native American Tribes that
were living in the Ohio Valley and Western Pennsylvania in the mid-18th
Century.

Trading
Partners

In the Ohio Valley, the Native American Indian tribes of
the western Haudenosaunee[3]
and the smaller satellite tribes under their protection changed their preference
from supporting and trading with the French to the English over the course of
the several years in the mid 1740’s. In
theory, the Haudenosaunee[4]
were neutral coalition of tribes. Prior
to this period of transition, the western Haudenosaunee tribes including the
Seneca and Onondagas, the smaller satellite tribes of the Mingos and Wyandots, along
with independent tribes of the Shawnee and Miami had favored trade with the
French through a series of agreements dating back nearly fifty years.

French participation in the War of Austrian Succession, including
King George’s War (1740-1748) in North America had depleted France’s ability to
provide the necessary trade goods to the Native American Indian Tribes in the
Ohio Valley. This failure can be linked
to the lack of the essential Infrastructure, traders, and manufacturing in New
France (Canada and Louisiana) as well as the supply of finished goods from
Metropolitan France.

The void in the trade between the French and Native North
America tribes provided an opening for the British Colonies, specifically Pennsylvania
and Virginia, to expand their trade with the Native Indian Tribes. Enterprising men like George Croghan and
Peter Tustee became accredited and licensed traders by 1747 with large trading
networks in the Ohio Valley. After beginning
their careers as agents for Edward Shippen’s company out of Philadelphia these
men forged successful trading corporations within the Ohio Valley in the late
1740’s.

George Croghan’s company built six fortified trading
posts in the Ohio Valley in the later stages of the 1740’s. Built along the Miami, Monongahela,
Sandusky, Ohio, Walsh and Cuyahoga rivers these fortified trading posts
represented the largest threat and continued disruption of French Claims in the
Ohio Valley.

European Policy

The push for trade with the Native American tribes in the
Ohio Valley was one small piece of the Mercantilism economic policies of both
Britain and France. The Mercantilism
economic policies placed in ever increasing value upon the Ohio Valley for very
different reasons.

Mercantilism was a regulated economic system that
promoted the accumulation of monetary reserves by the central government by partnering
with corporations to limit trade and manufacturing in the colonial areas of the
respective empires. Mercantilism goes
beyond taxation and tariffs but makes the Crown a majority partner in many or
most corporations involved in trade throughout the Colonies.

Mercantilism has many tenants, for the American Colonies
of Britain and France two of the more important tenants include agrarian
centric society and self-sufficiency.

The congregation of potential workers in urban centers
drives down the cost of employment under the auspices of supply and demand of
the work force. In this scenario when
the potential work force is larger than the required or needed positions than
employee salaries decrease. These lower
salaries lead to companies lowering the cost of their finish products. Under Mercantilism, this phenomenon is
addressed two-fold. In the American
Colonies both Britain and France put into place strict manufacturing laws
limiting the ability of the Colonies from manufacturing the finish product as
well as agrarian centric policies that place a premium on numerous smaller
villages and towns over larger urban centers.

The Governments of England and France expected that their
colonies in North America would be self-sufficient. Under this view the individual colonies
would be required to provide enough food, clothing and shelter to keep the
colonists feed, clothed and housed which are the basic tenants or foundation of
Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs. Higher
levels of Maslow’s Hierarchy would be provided central governments and
corporations in metropolitan Europe.

The Ohio
Company of Virginia

The population of the British Colonies in New England
exploded from 100,000 in 1700 to 300,000 in 1750. This population growth swelled the
populations of the Urban Centers in New England. The stress on the agrarian centric policies
in this colonial world forced the frontier of the Atlantic Coast Colonies
further inland. These policies of
expansion conflicted with the Native American Indian Tribes view of property. In 1744 the Treaty of Lancaster was signed
between the Haudenosaunee and the Colonies of Virginia and Maryland paving the
way for settlement Shenandoah Valley in exchange for protecting the hunting
grounds in the Ohio Valley.

Between 1744 and 1750 the population of New England alone
increased by 50,000 with much of that growth centered on the Region between
Boston, New York and Philadelphia. To
the Governors of Pennsylvania, New York and Massachusetts Bay it was not about
relocating the new settlers somewhere else in the American Colonies but
somewhere else in their colony.
Massachusetts Bay pushed north into their claims in Maine and Acadia,
New York up the Hudson Valley and Pennsylvania west across the Appalachian
Mountains into the Ohio Valley.

In 1749 the Ohio Company of Virginia was granted a land
claim of 200,000 acres of land between the Ohio, Kanawha and the Monongahela
Rivers southwest of modern-day Pittsburg.
This land grant was contingent on the Ohio Company settling 100 Families
in the land grant over the next seven years.
An additional 300,000 acres would be granted upon successful completion
of the first grant.

The Ohio Company of Virginia hired Thomas Cresap, a
successful frontier trader to identify locations for settlement. Under his supervision forts were constructed
at Willis Creek (Cumberland Maryland) and Redstone (Brownsville Pennsylvania)
in 1750. Later that year the Ohio
Company of Virginia also hired Christopher Gist, another successful frontier
tradesman to select additional locations.
Christopher Gist would become more widely known as the guide who
accompanied George Washington in 1753.

The Loyal Company of Virginia was another land
speculation company also seeking a Land Grant from the Crown in 1749. The company’s expedition in 1750 established
a claim in what is modern Kentucky I Barbourville.

Construction of settlements west of the Allegany
Mountains, specifically at Redstone put the Ohio Company of Virginia in
“violation” of the Lancaster Treaty of 1744.
Tensions between the Native America tribes and the settlers were
extremely high at the time. The
Shawnee Indian Tribe most notably changed it preference back to France as it
sought French aid in driving out the English settlers.

The Breadbasket
of New France

The rugged terrain and climate of Eastern Canada did not
make for easy farming in the early eighteenth century. In this wooded and rocky terrain, it took a
team of four able bodied men one year to clear an acre of land for
farming. This difficultly of clearing
and preparing farmland made the entire process of raising enough food for even
the minimal population of French Settlements in Canada problematic. A single bad year of crops could devastate
the population.

In the mid to late 1740’s the Colonial Government of New
France and that of France concluded that methods of preparing land in Canada
for farming would never meet the demands of the growing population. A new location for growing crops, primarily
wheat, would need to be found. By
1747 the Colonial Government in Canada and Imperial Government in Paris had
settled on Pays des Illinois or Upper Louisiana. It was estimated that four able bodied men
would be able to clear four to six acres of usable farmland per year in Pays de
Illinois. The commandant of Fort De
Chartes, Major Jean-Gaspard de Bertet de la Clue, nominally the Military
Governor of Pays des Illinois was ordered to pursue agricultural interests
rather than mining interests that had been central to settlement of Pays des
Illinois[i].

The challenge in 1747 would be moving the grains from
Pays de Illinois to Montreal or other locations in Canada. Much to the irritation of the Government
of Canada it was determined in Metropolitan France the easiest solution was an
“over land” transit of the farm goods from Fort de Chartes to the Shores of
Lake Erie near modern day Buffalo, New York, through the Ohio Valley as opposed
to moving the product over land to Detroit than via ship to ports on the
eastern shores.

The Governor of Canada in 1747, Roland-Michel Barrin de
La Galissonière, began the process of planning the route through the Ohio
Valley. As part of the preparations de
La Galissonière ordered Captain Pierre Joseph Céloron de Blainville to strengthen
France’s claim to the Ohio Valley with a military expedition. The ‘Lead Plate’ Expedition left Montreal
in June 1749 traveling through the Ohio Valley for five months before returning
to Montreal.

During the period of time between 1749 and 1751 the
Governor of Canada, Jacques-Pierre de Taffanel de la Jonquière, chose the
terminus of Ohio Valley route in modern-day Erie Pennsylvania. The route into the central Ohio Valley from
Erie would coincide with the Venango Path used by the Native American
Indians. Plans were put into place to
begin construction of a series of French Forts from Erie to Pittsburg along the
Venango Trail and down the Ohio River to its conjunction with the Mississippi.

Fort Sandoské

The exact date of the attack of Fort Sandoske’[5] is not known.
At some point between the Autumn of 1749 and the Spring of 1750 French
Forces including soldiers from the Compagnies Franches de la Marine stationed
in Detroit along with Canadian Militia and Native America Indians from modern
day Michigan attacked and destroyed George Croghan’s trading forton Lake
Erie. The destroyed trading post was
rebuilt by the French Forces and officially named Fort Sandoské.

The attack
marked the beginning of low intensity conflict between the two empires in the
Ohio Valley which escalates into the series of international wars generally
referred to as the Seven Years’ War.

Father le Loutre’s War

In Acadia and
Nova Scotia another low intensity conflict was occurring between Britain and
France in 1749. The French Jesuit
Missionary Father le Loutre lead a guerilla war against the British forces in
the region. The French Forces included
Acadian Militia, Mi’Kmaq Indians and a Few French soldiers.

[1]The Fort Ancient society is named for the
archeological site at Fort Ancient, Ohio.

[2]
The Monongahela society is named for archeological sites initially found along
the Monongahela River in Pennsylvania.

[3]
The Haudenosaunee were known to the English world as the Iroquois
Confederation.

[4]The eastern Haudenosaunee tribes of upstate New York
and New England, particularly the Mohawk, unlike the western tribes, had fought
alongside of the English forces against France in New England and Acadia and
generally supported the English during this period.

[5]
There is not consensus on the name of George Croghan’s Trading Post it is
generally referred to by the later French name of Fort Sandoske’.

[i]Lives of Fort de Chartres: Commandants, Soldiers, and
Civilians in French Illinois, 1720–1770 (Shawnee Books)

As January comes to a close, holy cow we are already a month into 2018, it is time to look at the projects I will be working on for the rest of the year.

Wars of the First Triumvirate

The First Triumvirate was composed of Julius Caesar, Pompeius Magnus (Pompey the Great) and Marcus Licinius Crassus. When Crassus died after the battle of Carrhae civil war broke out between Caesar and Pompey for control of Rome. In 49 the senate, backing Pompey, ordered Caesar to disband his army and give up his province of Gaul. Instead of giving up, Caesar crossed the Rubicon river setting off a civil war. After a five year struggle accross many battlefields, Caesar defeated his enemies and was sole ruler of Rome.
https://ehistory.osu.edu/topics/first-triumvirate-wars

The Crusader States in the Era of the Third Crusade

After the failure of the Second Crusade Zengid dynasty controlled a unified Syria and engaged in a conflict with the Fatimid rulers of Egypt. The Egyptian and Syrian forces were ultimately unified under Saladin, who employed them to reduce the Christian states and recapture Jerusalem in 1187. Spurred by religious zeal, King Henry II of England, King Philip II of France (known as Philip Augustus) ended their conflict with each other to lead a new crusade. The death of Henry in 1189, however, meant the English contingent came under the command of his successor, King Richard I of England (known as Richard the Lionheart, in French;Cœur de Lion). The elderly German Emperor Frederick Barbarossa also responded to the call to arms, leading a massive army across, but he drowned in a river in Asia Minor on 10 June 1190 before reaching the Holy Land. His death caused tremendous grief among the German Crusaders, and most of his troops returned home.

After the Crusaders had driven the Muslims from Acre, Philip in company with Frederick's successor, Leopold V, Duke of Austria (known as Leopold the Virtuous), left the Holy Land in August 1191. On 2 September 1192, Richard and Saladin finalized a treaty granting Muslim control over Jerusalem but allowing unarmed Christian pilgrims and merchants to visit the city. Richard departed the Holy Land on 9 October. The successes of the Third Crusade allowed the Crusaders to maintain considerable states in Cyprus and on the Syrian coast. However, the failure to recapture Jerusalem would lead to the Fourth Crusade.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Crusade

Colonial Conflict in the Ohio Valley - 1750

Although struggles for supremacy had been going on for many decades between France and England in the New World, hostilities intensified in the early 1750’s as both English and French settlers had attempted to colonize land in the Ohio River Valley, near present day Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. The English settlers, who had moved northwest from Virginia, and French settlers, who had moved east from the Great Lakes, or south from Canada, each thought they owned the rights to the land.

In 1754, English forces under George Washington had begun their march to Fort Duquesne for the purposes of ousting the French from the region by force. On the way, they encountered a French scouting party near present-day Uniontown, Pennsylvania. Washington’s men massacred the party in what came to be known as The Battle of Jumonville Glen. Washington soon took camp at Great Meadows, a large natural clearing, and ordered the construction of Fort Necessity in anticipation of a French response. The French did respond, as 600 soldiers forced Washington to surrender the fort. The French and Indian War had begun.

Tuesday, November 7, 2017

Battle of Signal Hill - September 15, 1762Last Engagement in North America of the Seven Years' War

Over the years our little
gaming group has talked intermittently on running a campaign for our miniature gaming. These discussions spring up in part because
of the older members fond memories of old campaigns run years (decades) ago and
new members who have never really been a part of a campaign.

Due to the availability of
figures and my personal interest I am seriously considering running a campaign
based on the French and Indian War in North America.

The biggest principal of
the campaign is to create realistic scenarios for our games which effect the
course of the war. In looking at
possible solutions for this I have chosen a Tree Campaign system in which each
game has 5 potential outcomes which in turn dictates the scenario for the next
game in the campaign.

The Result of Each Game
can be French major victory – French minor victory – Draw – British minor victory
– British major victory. These “results”
are regardless of the forces involved, a battle between the Mingo and Chippewa
would still be either French or British victory or a Draw.

Further breaking down the
results each of the Six major blocks are effected by the outcome. Britain, British Colonies, British Native
American Allies, France, French Colonies, French Native American Allies. AN example is a Victory by one side might
strengthen the resolve of the Native American Allies and thus in the next game
more Native American Allies are provided.
Or a defeat results in the loss of resolve and enough losses and the
Native American Allies are lessened in an upcoming game.

Certain events also have
outcome changing dynamics. The first
time a Provincial Forces is defeated in a battle the British Army will send to
North America. An example of this is
battle of Great Meadows (Fort Necessity); the colonial government in Virginia
thought this was no big deal, the British Government sent Braddock on an
Expedition to Fort Duquesne.

Where would you start such
a campaign?

French destruction of
George Croghan’s trading post in modern day Erie PN, 1750

French Raid on Pickawillany,
1752

Jumonville Glen 1754

Fort Necessity 1754

Braddock’s Expedition 1755

or some other point?

There are pros and cons to
each of these potential starting points.
To me the answer resides in where does a result “change” history.

I personally like the Raid
on Pickawillany as a good starting point, even though it kind of violates the tenant
of most results will not change the course of the war, unless I get a little “unrealistic”
in what scenario’s it generates. It was
debated if Major British Victory would result in an Expedition against Fort
Vincennes in Indiana.

Wednesday, October 25, 2017

Jeff's Gaming History (The Condensed Version)

I have spent more than three decades painting and pushing little toy soldiers around a table or two, mostly in the Twin Cities area. Originally I was a fantasy player using TSR's Battle System, however as that system fell out of favor I moved to the historical side of the hobby and under the guidance of players like Jim Fitzgerald and BJ Kersteter.

My primary interest is the American War of Independence followed closely by the Napoleonic Period. I am not sure you would know that by simply looking at my figure collection as I have a pretty wide and varied collection.

There is no question I am a megalomaniac when it comes to gaming I have a huge desire to do massive battles. Nothing in the hobby sets me free like the look of 2000 plus figures marching across the table to do battle with one another.

2018 Painted Figure Goal

One of my 2018 New Year’s Resolution was to paint 1000 25/28mm figures in a variety of projects.

What's on my painting table

Currently I am concentrating on completing figures for the French and Indian War and American War of Independence for my birthday gaming celebration, focusing on Warfare in Colonial America.

* 25mm French and Indian War
Mohawk Indians
- Four "companies" of 12 figures
British Independent Companies
- Two companies of 10 figures
Colonial Regiment (TBD)
- Thirty Figures
British Rangers
- Three Companies of 10 figures

*25mm American War of Independence
Virginia Continentals (For Fitz)
- Two Regiments of 20 Figures
New York Continentals
- Two Regiments of 20 Figures
North Carolina Continentals
- One Regiment of 20 Figures